Houston – Former Enron chief executive Jeff Skilling, the vilified figure from the financial scandal of the decade, was sentenced Monday to 24 years and four months in prison in the harshest sentence yet in the case that arose from the energy-trading giant’s collapse.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake denied Skilling’s request for bail and ordered him to home confinement, wearing an ankle monitor.
Lake, who told the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to recommend when Skilling should report to prison, suggested that Skilling, 52, be sent to the federal facility in Butner, N.C., for his role in a case that came to symbolize corporate fraud in America.
Skilling, insisting he was innocent yet remorseful in a two- hour hearing, was the last top former official to be punished for the accounting tricks and shady business deals that led to the loss of thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion in Enron stock and more than $2 billion in employee pension plans after the company sought bankruptcy protection in December 2001.
Skilling’s remaining assets, about $60 million, will be liquidated, according to an agreement among lawyers for Enron employees, the company’s savings and stock-ownership plans, prosecutors and Skilling’s legal team.
About $45 million will be put into a restitution fund for victims.
The remaining $15 million will go to Skilling’s legal fees, said Lynn Sark, attorney for the Enron Corp. Savings Plan and Stock Ownership Plan. The Justice Department allowed Skilling to set aside $23 million for his defense when he was indicted; he still owed his lawyers $30 million as of Monday.
Skilling stood with attorney Daniel Petrocelli at his side. He gave no visible reaction to the sentence. After court adjourned, Skilling hugged Petrocelli.
Skilling’s term is the longest received by any Enron defendant. It falls just shy of the sentence imposed on former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers, who received 25 years for his role in an $11 billion accounting fraud.
Skilling’s co-defendant, Enron founder Ken Lay, died from heart disease July 5 in Aspen.
